New Experiences
by JamesPottersPixie
Summary: Payson discovers that some things can be just as good as gymnastics. Maybe even better. It just takes the right person to show her.


**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Make It Or Break It or any of the characters. Just the plot and the changes I made to what actually happened.**

Payson Keeler took a deep breath and squeezed the hand she was holding tightly. They had done it, all of them. Through the ups and downs, boys, breakups, fights and make ups, the drama, the happiness, the heartbreak, they had all made it. All four of the Rock girls were competing at Worlds.

Payson felt Emily squeeze back and she felt reassured. The team may not be talking at the moment but they'd pull through, they always did. She thought back to what they had gone through this year to bring them to this point.

Payson; with her broken back and then having to reinvent herself completely to be an artistic gymnast. Then of course the whole kissing Sasha disaster and him leaving and everything going to crap.

Honestly she may be a world class athlete but she's still a sixteen year old girl. Wasn't she allowed to make mistakes? Granted her mistakes were never normal sixteen year old mistakes. Lying to her parents about buying cortisone, pushing herself instead of resting when she knew she was hurt and should have listened to Sasha, kissing her coach who is twelve years older than her in front of the training cam and then forgetting about the recording. Not your typical getting detentions or skipping school mistakes. And to make it worse everyone insisted on blaming Sasha no matter how many times she said it was all her fault. Sasha was the most important person in her life. He was her coach, confidant, cheerleader, worst critic, and biggest supporter. He was the one she turned to with problems, no matter what they were. She had been lucky that he had understood, and after a short period of awkwardness on her part they were better than ever. Sasha had been great, saying that out wasn't her fault, and she'd done nothing wrong. That he would have done the same thing if his coach had been female.

The only good thing that had come from having Darby as a coach was Austin. She still couldn't think about him trying to teach her to be sexy without laughing. Even now she couldn't keep the silly grin off her face.

"Wonder what you're thinking about." Emily whispered when she saw the grin on Payson's face. "Or should I say who?"

Payson stuck her tongue out at Emily, turning to look at her and the smile turned into laughter at how ridiculous she looked.

A few weeks ago they had overheard the boys talking about how they were going to dress up to cheer on the girls and the Rock girls had decided to return the favor. They had put their differences aside with Kelly Parker and Andrea Conway for an afternoon to plan their surprise for the boys. They had decided to go all out.

Each girl was in a tank top and shorts. Their faces and necks were completely blue with a big white star on each cheek and every other visible inch of skin was red. Their tank tops and shorts were white and they had had them specially made. The day they had planned their outfits they had put the names of the six members of the men's team into a hat to pick who they would individually cheer for. They figured that it was the only fair way since the others (Lauren, Kaylie and Kelly) had fought over it incessantly. On the front of the small white shirt was a screen printed picture of "their" boy. The back said Team USA in bold blue letters. The shorts had their boy's last name printed clearly across the butt, also in blue. They wore plain white Chuck Taylors to complete the outfits. They had put red and blue streaks in their hair and pulled it back into ponytails because the paint they used on their bodies was a bitch to get out. (Emily swore she could still see a bit of blue in Kelly's hair from where she's accidentally dipped it in the paint and tried to wash it out.)

It was stupid, but Payson still got a little thrill every time she thought of Austin's name plastered across her butt. She knew he didn't feel the same; he was still getting over Kaylie.

Payson sighed as she looked down the row at her team. That was another cause of tension. When they had drawn names they had decided that the best way to do it was to draw in order of their ranking for the Worlds team. Payson, Kelly, Emily, Andrea, Lauren, Kaylie, and that would be final. No switching, no redo, and no complaining. Of course that didn't stop everyone but Emily from throwing a fit when Payson had pulled Austin's name out of the hat. Emily and Payson shared a glance, both secretly happy Payson had drawn Austin's name for the same reasons. Emily knew all about Payson's crush on gymnastics bad boy. And they wanted to keep Kaylie away from him. The girl was so hot and cold.

Kelly had been relatively happy with drawing Carter since they trained together in Denver. But the fighting had started all over again when Emily drew Max, but again Payson and Emily were thrilled.

In the time since Max had joined the Rock he had gotten close with Payson and Emily and even though he ignored them when they warned him to stay away from Lauren he still considered them his closest friends besides Austin. Those three had been there when he had ended things with Lauren and they were the only ones who knew his deepest secret. Emily was excited because now she wouldn't have to worry about one of the guys taking her cheering the wrong way since they didn't know she was with Damon.

Lauren had drawn Trent West, the surprise member from some unknown gym in Seattle, and hadn't been hesitant to make her displeasure known. He was gorgeous and completely uninterested in her, insanely devoted to his girlfriend back home. But fortunately for the rest of them, the two got along great once she stopped trying to get him to leave his girlfriend for her. They had a casual flirty friendship that worked well for them.

Things had grown really awkward when Kaylie had drawn Nicky Russo. Before he'd left for Denver, she and Nicky had had their weird are-they-aren't-they-but-he-used-to-be-with-Payson thing. Payson had been so mad at Kaylie at the time because she had been one of the two people Payson had told about how much she liked Nicky. It had hurt that Kaylie, one of her best friends since she was little, would betray her like that. So much for hoes over bros and the girl code and all that other crap that Kaylie spouted constantly. It seemed that it only applied when it benefited Kaylie. But Payson had let it go because that's just the type of person she is. And after Nicky had moved to Denver it just hadn't mattered anymore.

Andrea had been happy because the last member, Casen Welch, trained in Boston with her and they were already good friends.

The other great thing about the last year for Payson was her friendship with Emily. Emily had changed a lot in the last year. She had to. After the meet with China she had realized that Sasha would always have her best interest in mind and she really could trust him. She had ended up telling him all about Damon and apologizing for breaking the rules. He had said he understood loving someone while training but she couldn't let it interfere with her goals. He was upset that she was hurting but glad that she had decided to put Damon second t her gymnastics.

Disaster had struck just after the invitational in Hungary.

****FLASHBACK****

Emily had come to Payson's house late one night in hysterics. It had taken Payson an hour to get Emily calm enough so that she could understand even part of what Emily was saying.

Through seemingly unending tears, Payson had managed to make out a demand that she go with Emily to see Sasha right then. There had been no reasoning with her that it was now 1:30 A.M. and Sasha would probably be asleep. Emily had run out into the rain dragging Payson. They decided not to bother with a car and ran straight to the Rock, where they pounded on Sasha's door like madmen.

He had looked completely stunned to see his top two gymnasts standing at his door at 2 in the morning, soaking wet. They had been equally stunned to see their coach opening the door in nothing but a pair of low slung jeans that, in his haste to answer the door, he had zipped but not bothered to button.

He ignored their blush and immediately opened his mouth to lecture them about being out that late when he realized they were shivering and barefoot. He softened a little as he let them inside, knowing that it must be important for these two to show up like this.

He left them standing on the small mat at the door as he walked towards the back of the trailer where they had a clear view of his bed. As he walked past his rumpled bed fastening his jeans, Emily and Payson shared a look before blushing madly. He may have been firmly entrenched as their off-limits coach in their brains but there was no denying he was one of the most gorgeous men either of them had ever seen, so there was no way not to take in the sight of him half naked without his pants buttoned and sleep ruffled hair next to an unmade bed without their minds going to some very interesting places. He buttoned his jeans as he disappeared behind the only door in the place and the two flushed girls fought to control the pink staining their faces before he came back. He returned moments later with two fluffy towels in his hands and pulling a t-shirt over his head. As he handed one to each girl he noticed that it wasn't just rain that had soaked the girl's faces. There were salty tracks running down the face of his brunette gymnast, her eyes red and puffy as she tried to fight back the next wave of hysterics that were glistening in her eyes.

The blonde holding onto her was better, but not by much. There were no tears but the look of concerned panic on her face had him completely worried.

They were drier because of the towels but they were still shaking from the cold. He thought that it would be best if the girls were as comfortable as possible for the coming conversation so he walked back to his room and pulled two t-shirts and two of his smallest pairs of sweatpants out of the closet.

"They'll be too big but they'll be warm."

They both gave him tight smiles as they said "Thank you Sasha." Payson trying to convey just how worried she was with her eyes and Emily with her head down avoiding eye contact with him at all cost.

Sasha felt his stomach drop. He was certain that after the last few weeks there were very few things that could make Emily that wary of him.

"The bathroom is through that door. You girls can change there and then we'll talk."

Payson quickly walked to the bathroom first, hoping to give Emily some time to open up to Sasha but aster she changed and walked back out she saw them still standing in the same position, Emily studiously avoiding Sasha's attempt at eye contact. As soon as Payson cleared the bathroom Emily practically sprinted into it slamming the door.

"What's happening Payson?" Sasha whispered demandingly.

"I have no clue." she admitted. "But please tell me we'll be able to fix it Sasha." She looked back at the bathroom door, concerned. "Please."

Sasha pulled her into an uncharacteristic hug. "We'll do our best Payson."

They both moved and sat on the couch, one on wither end leaving the middle for Emily as they waited patiently for her to come out. They gave her ten minutes to calm herself down and mentally prepare herself for the conversation before Payson got impatient with waiting. Just before she was going to get up to knock, Emily slowly opened the door and walked over. She looked at Payson accusingly before taking the seat clearly meant for her. They sat quietly for a minute before Sasha spoke.

"Emily."

It wasn't more than her name but it was enough for her to break. The tone was so worried and caring that she couldn't help it, she threw herself at him and buried her head in his chest, sobbing again. Sasha gave Payson a panicked look before wrapping his arms around her and whispering "I WILL make it okay." over and over again. After a few minutes and more water than Sasha thought it possible for a person so small to hold, Emily leaned back and curled her legs up under her.

Staring intently at her fingers playing with the hem of Sasha's t-shirt she took a deep breath. Meeting his eye for the first time all night she whispered brokenly "I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen. I never wanted this to happen."

Payson grabbed her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "What happened Ems?"

Emily clung to Payson's hand as she turned to face Sasha more directly. "When Darby first got here she changed a lot of the rules." Sasha nodded, already knowing this. He had changed them back as soon as he'd returned. "My parole officer had said I was off of probation, free and clear. And the NGO hadn't talked to me about my place on the Worlds team or any consequences yet. And then Darby lifted the no dating rule. I was so excited that I could finally date Damon without lying to anyone, and he was just as happy when I told him. Then Marcus and the NGO came and gave me a contract I had to sign in order to stay on the team. It had a ton of stipulations but what I hated the most was the one that said no matter what my club rules were I couldn't have a boyfriend. I couldn't believe it. I had just told Damon we could be together and then suddenly we couldn't? I told Marcus that I needed to think about it. That surprised him but he said okay. I left without signing it. I had to talk to Damon. I went to his apartment and told him about the contract and he said he completely understood and that I should sign it, that my gymnastics had to come first and he would wait for me just like he always would. But I didn't want to wait." Sasha tensed. This was not happening. Not to his gymnast. Please let him be wrong. "I . . . I said there was a way to be with him then, before I signed the contract. Then we could be apart, and then we could wait. But that night I just wanted to be with him." She paused and took a shaky breath. Sasha felt nauseous as he looked in her eyes, knowing the inevitable was coming, and Payson sat there, frozen in disbelief, wide-eyed holding Emily's hand.

"You said I could come to you with anything. I didn't know who else to trust with this. I think I'm pregnant."

****END FLASHBACK****

They had been so lucky that night. Sasha had driven to an all night pharmacy in the next town and picked up three different kinds of pregnancy test for Emily. She and Sasha had waited outside the bathroom door while Emily had taken them and while they waited Sasha had held Emily close and told her over and over it would be okay while she clung to him and Payson. When the time was up and neither Emily nor Payson could look at the results, Sasha had been the one to tell Emily she wasn't going to be a mom with tears of relief in his eyes. He had held them both as they sobbed and when they had calmed, he told Emily that even though all three were negative she still needed to see a doctor to make sure.

He had been amazing that night. He had told them that they were staying at the trailer the rest of the night and to sleep in the next morning. They could be late to practice. He made sure they were comfortable and warm curled up together in his bed before grabbing his cell and went outside.

He hated to do it and cause panic as it was 3:30 in the morning, but his first call had been to the Keeler house. It had taken him a good fifteen minutes to convince Kim that Payson wasn't hurt when she'd answered the phone and heard his voice. He explained that the girls were with him and that they were okay the best he could without telling her why they were there, that would be up to the girls.

After a similar, if slightly more hysterical, call to Chloe Kmetko, Sasha settled himself on his couch with a book to spend a long sleepless night watching over his girls.

She and Emily had woken up the next morning to an empty trailer. Stuck to the refrigerator there was a note telling them to spend the morning relaxing. There were bowls in the cabinet for cereal and he expected them to eat and Kim had brought them workout clothes and they should take it easy until afternoon rotations.

Payson was brought out of her thought by the announcement that the competition would be starting momentarily. She and Emily shared another smile before standing up and linking arms, cheering like crazy for the boys.

Payson couldn't wait to see the boy she was madly in like with kick ass.


End file.
